In The Midst Of Depression (MD)
by Ph.Acidity
Summary: After the recent death of his only family, Touya has become depressed. How will he cope with his feelings of lost? Au, Yaoi. Based on a one shot of the a slightly different name, now in greater detail with much more to come! Rated M just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! I'm back, and I've brought a new story with me. I don't know how well this will work out, but as long as it lasts, I'll run with it.**

The cold winter air blew past, taking several leaves in it's embrace and blowing them about. Winter was upon us and had the city in it's grip. It was cold, very cold, outside. Your breath was visible in the chilly air, lakes and ponds had frozen over, and rain no longer fell; only sharp, pelting hail or sweetly delicate snow, if the weather was gracious.

To top it all off, the last of my family laid dead, in the cold, unforgiving ground. They had passed very recently, only a few days ago in fact. Their passing left me with a deep feeling of sorrow.

I... I was in midst of depression.

I sat now on a park bench, watching others enjoy their time with those in their company. It didn't bother me that they had someone when I did not, it especially didn't bother me that they didn't care of how I felt. Why would they? How could I expect them to know that I was upset with the world, and if they did know, what could they do about it? I sat contemplating my shallow mood, and low spirits. I wasn't proud of the human race as of now.

I got up, finally deciding what I should do about my state if affairs. A celebration was in order, not that my family had actually died, but of the fact that there was someone that stilled cared. A cake would need to be bought and emotions gathered. I would celebrate them on my birthday. My cake would be their cake, and we would share it as always. Dead or not, we are still family.

I walk silently to the bakery. I had to go this way regardless, to get home, so it didn't disturb me much to be here. As I walked inside the Bakery, a bell chimed, despite this no one addressed me. The store was mostly full so I pushed it off as that being to blame. I got in line behind a woman, holding a much younger child, I assumed it to be her son. She was babbling about on her phone, talking to someone about a party she was planning. She went on to talk about who would be there, and eventually it was her turn at the cashier. She took three minutes out of her busy day to put up her phone and communicate with another human being that was in the same room with her.

After she ordered it was my turn. I walked up, and greeted the cashier. He extended a greeting back and then I began to place my order. I had originally planned to get a very simple cake, but the cashier soon convinced me otherwise. After I had order an awfully elaborate cake, he handed me a ticket. He told me to be back in a few days and the cake would be ready. I left the store, and began my walk home.

I walk down two streets and make two turns and notice quickly that someone appears to be following me. I decide to test this, considering that it isn't nice to assume things about people. I circle a few buildings, drop into a few cafes, and buy random people coffee, before deciding that this person, is the same one every time and that nowhere I go, they seem to follow. I finally decide, rather stupidly, that they just so happen to be going the exact same indecisive way as I.

It's about sunset as I make it onto the street that holds my apartment. My follower is still there, despite my attempts to shake him he still remains. I stop in my tracks and turn to my pursuer, before I start jumping to conclusions. I've stopped short of my apartment, and they continue walking, almost into me, but stop short of standing right on top of me. They now stand an arms length away from me.

"Hello," They, he to be more precise, greets quickly. "You're probably wondering why I'm following you; I was wondering that a bit myself too. I couldn't help but notice you at the bakery and I decided that I wanted to talk to you, so I followed you, since I didn't know if it was normal to just walk up to someone on the street and say hello or if you actually had to have a pretense of talking to the person-"

I stop listening, and despite all my instincts telling me no, I shouldn't show him where I live, I walk up to my apartment, unlock the door, and promptly slam it in his face. I flop down on the couch and try to go to sleep. My follower is still outside, chatting up my door.

I have no choice in the matter and fall asleep listening to his chatter.

**So this is _that _story. I decided, to get myself out of the slump I've been in (in terms of writing) that I would do this, something that I had planned to do for a while now. The first couple of chapters may seem a little rough around the edges but I'm getting back into the swing of things. Hopefully, considering how fleshed out the story already is, I won't have to much trouble writing.**

**Just a note, the official (or somewhat unofficial) name i came up with is 'In The Midst Of Depression Redux' simply to set it apart from the first. **

**PS: I also really don't understand the new search system**


	2. Chapter 2

**So onto the second chapter. Things should get more interesting from here on in.**

I wake up to the blaring noise of my alarm clock. I check the time; it's precisely 7:30. I groan and clamber over to the clock, before slamming my hand down roughly on the 'snooze' button.

I roll off the bed, landing slightly less gracefully then I had intended. I pick myself up quickly, self-conscious of the fact that I hadn't swept up in a while. I quietly stroll into the bathroom to examine myself in the mirror. I look pretty bad; my hair is unkempt, and I have slight bags under my eyes. How late did I go to sleep last night?

I rack my brain around what happen yesterday afternoon. I came home from work and... Yes, that's right, that guy followed me and wouldn't shut up at all. That explains why I am so tired.

I decide that I should bathe, considering that I did intend on getting to work sometime today, so I strip myself of my clothes and get into the shower. I turn on the shower and let the warm water rush over me. I try to focus on the relaxing sound of the water, but it's hard and soon the realization of what is required of me brings me crashing back to reality. I sill need to go to work.

I leave the shower and dry myself quickly, and then change into another set of clothes. It's my last clean pair, so I guess I'll be doing laundry tomorrow. I come back to stand in front of the mirror. My hair looks... better, but it will sort itself out. I decide that I'm ready to face the world, so I go retrieve so winter wear, such as my scarf, a hat, and finally some gloves.

I step out into the hallway, glancing around to make sure no one is there. I rather not deal with people, or my landlord for that matter,=; I think I'm slightly behind on my rent. I close the door behind me. I walk silently down the stairs and out the main entrance of my apartment complex. There aren't many people out today, and it's dreadfully cold. I think the two are related.

I start walking towards the garage of our apartment complex. Perhaps I'll drive today, though it's such a short walk to work. I should take it out for a drive anyway so it still works when I need it later on. I glance up at my car, which is on the second floor of the garage. It's covered in snow, and some ice. I guess I'll just walk.

It's a quick ten minute walk to my workplace but I'm glad to be out of the cold. Even with the added protection of my gloves my fingers feel ready to fall off.

I get into the elevator, because I work on the ninth floor, one floor lower than the top. It's a short elevator ride and it arrives quickly at my stop. I step out and it closes behind me. I walk over to my cubicle, and sit down. I move some of the cards that have been placed there from some of my co-workers who have been concerned about me.

I hit the power button on my computer, and my computer slowly boots up, in the meantime I discard my gloves and began blowing on and rubbing my hands in attempt to warm them up. I pick up one of the cards, which is from my co-worker Susan. I actually have no idea what Susan does, I just normally see her talking. I know her name, which is more than I can say about most of my co-workers. I pick up the other, which is from Barry, a friend of-sorts. Although Susan is technically my friend, I'm slightly closer to Barry.

I place the cards back down on my desk, where they had been sitting before. There are two others, one from my boss, telling by the messy scrawls that she wrote her name in, and the other is from someone I don't know, or can't tell because I can't read the loopy handwriting. The card has a pretty sizable paragraph written on the inside, all in the strange, loopy handwriting. I never bothered to learn cursive, and now I'm starting to regret it.

I place the card back on my desk, but behind the others so it's hidden from immediate view.

I turn back to my computer and log in when I notice my boss coming this way.

She stops at my desk, eying me. "Good morning, Touya. I take it you're feeling better."

I nod, "Good morning, Boss-Lady. Thanks for the card."

"Your welcome." She ignores my nickname for her, which I started calling her shortly after starting to work here. She's my boss and a lady, so it seems to fit to me. "Here are your papers for today. I've lightened up your load a little bit, and I wouldn't be upset if you decide to leave earlier than usual- as long as you finish first." She placed the papers on my desk, before smiling and walking away.

I glanced over at the stack of papers Boss-Lady had left me. There were lots of data points and overall sloppy scribblings all over the paper. Most were details of events and decisions of a board meeting. I assume she wants me to graph them and form a general budget for this branch of the company. That doesn't seem to hard but I couldn't help but feel as if it was more 'busy work' than anything.

I shrugged it off and got to work. Despite there being a lot of numbers present on the papers, most of them were redundant and left me with a somewhat simple budget. It had about six categories at the time; I would have to get with my boss and discuss the finer details later.

I decide I would just leave early and be back early sometime tomorrow, so that I could possibly get some rest. I pack up my things but as I do so, I notice my reuniclus doll sitting off to the side of my desk. It's mainly there to remind me of my reuniclus, who is off at the battle subway.

The thought of my only Pokemon, and it being the only way to easily remember him by, it almost brings me to tears, and I place it in my hood as reconciliation for all the times I have forgotten it.

I leave work, reversing the steps it took to get me here, only on the street, I detour and head deeper into the city. I decide, as a final decree of my sanity, that it might be possible that me and reuniclus shared a telepathic bond and that by talking to the doll it would almost be like talking to him, in a way.

So I give the doll a tour of the city.

"Reuniclus," I started, talking to myself. "Did I ever tell you why I moved here...

… and upon the ruins, Unova was built..." I ended. It was nearing late afternoon, and I yawned, as I noticed how late it was getting.

Suddenly clapping started behind me, and I turned to the people, not really understanding what was going on.

"This tour guide is so much better than the last! He doesn't ask stupid questions." I heard one of the people say as they clapped.

The people clapped for another thirty seconds before many of them disbanded, talking about the 'tour' I had given them. Truth be told, I hadn't actually noticed them until now.

I begin to walk away, still slightly confused on what just happened, until I notice a familiar man watching me. I sigh and slow my pace, as I know what's coming. He catches up with me before talking.

"Hello," He greets. I glance at him, acknowledging that he's there.

"I saw you watching me," I say shortly after.

"Yes, I was watching you. You give very good tours you know, you know the city very well, maybe you should consider becoming a tour guide. You'd be very good at it. I would certainly pay to watch you give tours,-"

We have arrived at my apartment. I unlock the door, my eyes half on him, wondering what he's planning, if anything, as I attempt to open the door. I clumsily drop my keys and he picks them up, still going off at the mouth and hands them to me. I thank him silently and finally unlock my door. I walk inside and turn to face him to see if he's going to try anything. He just stands there, talking, so I close the door in his face.

He continues to talk as if we aren't separated by at least two inches of wood. I try to block him out by listening to some music but I quickly get bored of that.

As I'm taking my headphones off, I hear him yawn and he tells me good night. I hear his foot steps as he walks away. I roll my eyes casually, he's finally gone, and I almost miss the noise that he made. Nevertheless, I have no problem getting to sleep.

**Touya's boss is called Boss-Lady. I honestly don't know why, it just seems appropriate... On another note, this is still from the earlier version of In The Midst of Depression, minus the things I added in to give it some length. I'm not even a third through of what I had before, which is good, because I had some more things I intend to add to this story, for length. Please Review and thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3! Please R&R and I hope you enjoy!**

I absentmindedly flip through the channels. There's never anything good to watch at this time of day; it's all just a mix of kid's shows, who are probably at school right now, and boring, paid-programing about blenders. Who uses blenders anyway? I randomly stop on a channel and decide to just watch it. Luckily, it's not one of the two I mentioned before. Unfortunately it's a documentary about ancient rocks.

The only reason I'm at home right now, trying to find something boring enough to sleep through on TV., is because I decided not to go to work today. It wasn't because I was sick or anything, I just decided not to go. So here I am, looking for a something that interests me on TV.

_'The great Steven Stone explains the great-'_

I turn the TV off. I wanted to either find something interesting to watch or find something boring enough to sleep through, and _'Steven Stone: Fossil Hunter'_ was precisely in the middle, making it to interesting to sleep through, and too boring to watch. Now though, I have nothing to do, which was the reason I started watching TV in the first place. Maybe I should take a walk, get some exercise.

Exercise. I do need to get some... but it's cold... I turn the TV back on in defeat. _Steven Stone _has to be better than the possibility of freezing to death. I wiggle around on my couch, trying to get comfortable and as I do I hear a knock on the door.

I roll my eyes and get up to answer it. I open the door and it's my stalker, standing there like he's an old friend.

"Hello," He greets. He's not wearing his hat today, so I take in some of his finer details, like his green hair and considerable height. He stands there, looking a bit odd, as if he wants to smile, but not sure if he should. I'm sure he has some reason to keep bothering me, but regardless of that, he's really not the person I want to see right now.

I close the door in his face. He's not perturbed by this at all. I look through the peephole in the door at him: he hasn't even budged. "I didn't see you go to work today, so I got concerned and came to see if you were alright." I open the door again and glare at him. Why is he always following me?

He doesn't seem to be phased by my glaring, so I close the door in his face again. "It's nice to see you; I have to go now but I'll be back to check on you." And with that he leaves me in peace.

How did he know that I didn't go to work? There has to be some reason. Maybe I knew him before? I can't help but feel I would remember someone so tall and with green hair to boot.

I retreat to the couch and hug my pillow. I turn off the TV. Steven's obvious hard-on for rocks doesn't really interest me anymore, not that it did that much before.

I run my hands through my hair. He said he would be back, right? I should just talk to him, and figure out how he knows that. I shouldn't freak out, it's not even that big of a deal. I should just calm down, and eat something, it's almost lunch time.

I go into the kitchen and settle for the first thing I can find, which is a box of crackers. I'm going back to the couch when I feel an unsettling feeling. I go check the peephole on my door and notice 'Greenie' coming up the stairs. He looks to have what is about lunch with him. Did he really take off his fucking lunch break to come eat here?

I turn away from the people hole, and slip down the door until I'm sitting with my back up against it.

"Hey, I'm back," He starts. He starts talking about random things after that. That's a really bad habit of his, he just rambles. All of the time. I run my hands through my hair. I really don't want to have to sit through this but I can hear him everywhere in my apartment. If he didn't talk so loud I could sleep through it, but no such luck. I let my head hit the door and finally start to listen to him.

"-and you never carry anything to work with you, and you lead with your left. You also hold your pinkie up when you eat ice cream, and you almost always take the stairs, and you never used to get off work early, or not go for that matter."

I think about what he's said. After awhile of silence, I realized what just happened. I get up and check the peephole. What I thought was true, he left and now I can't ask him any of the thousands of questions I had after that tangent he went on.

Whatever, I'll see him again and I involuntarily shudder at how that is probably true. I head back to the couch and take a nap.

I wake up late in the day. I yawn and I'm surprised at how much I actually slept. My stomach growls, and I sigh; I don't think there's much to eat around.

I go to the kitchen and shuffle around in the cupboards but I can't find anything. I smell something wonderful though. Maybe I should order pizza or something.

"I'm back." He announces. "I've brought something for you." I hear him shake a bag and my stomach growls in response.

I really don't want to accept food from a stranger, so I look through the fridge to find something to eat but I find nothing. I retreat to the couch empty-handed, and with bile gnawing at my insides.

I could simple go to the store and by something. But I wouldn't put it past him to follow me, and that would be pretty awkward and unappealing. It's obvious what must be done.

I swallow my pride and let him in.

He stands awkwardly glancing around at first. This is probably nothing new to him though, chances are he's broken in to my apartment at one point or another. I decide to break the ice.

"Do you want something to drink?" I ask him, trying not to show my overall dejection at this situation. I didn't want him to know where I lived and I really didn't want him in my apartment.

He nods. "Tea," He answers back. I start some water. Soon were both sitting at the table. "You apartment is very nice. Nice and roomy, and it has a nice view." I'm trying not to stare at the bags of food. I'm staring at the floor right now, but there's no way to avoid the smell.

"So what's your name?" He asks mid-sentence, about whatever he was talking about.

I stare at him for a moment wondering if I should tell him. "Black, but most people call me Touya."

"That's a nice name." He doesn't bother to tell me his name, not that I really care at this point. The hole growing in my stomach is of more importance. The tea finishes and I pour him some, and watch as he takes his sweet time to finish it, before pouring him another cup. As I'm pouring him a second cup he hands me a hamburger.

It's long overdue in my mind. I've let him in, made him tea and tolerated him for over an hour in which I had to sit and smell his food and watch him take his sweet-ass time to finish said tea. This is probably his way of getting back at me for closing the door in his face.

Although I feel like my stomach is going to burn a hole into my abdomen, I take small bits of the hamburger. He's stopped talking and is now watching me eat, which is a bit unsettling. When I'm done with the first, he asks if I want another, I nod but feel self-conscious.

He pushes a bag over to me when I've finished. "Help yourself."

I try to ignore the fact that he is still watching me, as I eat the two hamburgers in the bag. He eaten two himself, and now he stands up and tells me he has to go.

"Good night."

He nods and smiles. "I'll be back in the morning."

I mentally curse myself.

**Honestly I don't know what to call Touya/Black. Normally when I call him Touya I make him much milder and calmer and Black is a bit more fierce and louder. I had planned for him to have a little bit of both, so I'm not really sure what to call him. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please Review! It means a lot to me, mostly as confirmation that someone is enjoying this.**

**PS: The unofficial name for this is literally ITMOD(MD), and I think MD stands for more depression or something along those lines.(Chances are i was thinking 'moe' rather than 'more')**


	4. Chapter 4

I was in deep contemplation after yesterday's events. I couldn't decide whether my actions were selfish, or if I was acting out of kindness. Sure I was hungry and he had food, but I talked to him, which is more than I can say for most of our encounters. Most of which he initiated, and did most of the communicating.

I wonder what's with him? He told me when I first met him that he wanted to talk to me but didn't know if he needed a premise to do so. Maybe... he just wants to be friends? I would have no problem with that, I actually need some friends. Still though, his habits are a bit disturbing. I wonder if he's followed anyone else around like that...

I hear a knock on the door and I get up to answer it. I don't bother to look through the peephole, since it can only be a handful of people, I just open it. Gary, my landlord, is standing outside my door.

"Good morning, Black. Do you know what today is?" Gary started. I rolled my eyes. Today was the day that my rent was due, I wasn't behind like I thought before, and besides that Gary doesn't even collect rent; we send it straight to a checking account. "Anyway, what have you been up to? Haven't had any problems lately?"

I hesitated before shaking my head. "Everything has been just fine."

Gary slowly nodded, as he looked off in the distance. "You wouldn't happen to have any spare coffee, would you?" I sighed, and ushered him inside.

I closed the door behind him. Gary went to go sit at the kitchen table where he normally did when he came over for coffee.

"I hope you know I only have instant, none of that gourmet stuff your into." I told him, hoping he would consider leaving. I didn't really want to talk to him right now.

"That's fine, as long as it's not decaf." Gary replied, looking though the papers I had on the table. I rolled my eyes again before setting some water and milk to boil. Shortly after I joined Gary at the table. "Why do you look so upset? I know you're family died and all-"

I glared at him.

"Look, all I'm trying to say is that you can't spend your whole life living in the past. You need to get out, and make some friends."

We sat quietly until the water started to boil. I made Gary his coffee and handed it to him. I put my milk in a mug and added some honey before sitting back down.

"Oh, you will not believe what happen to Laura!" Laura was my annoying, nosy, neighbor who enjoyed spying on me. Maybe she drove off a cliff and was in the hospital. "So yesterday she was in the lobby talking to the security guard about sleeping on the job when a man she had never seen before came out of the elevator. He was really tall, with I think green hair? Anyway, she asked what he was doing around and he told her that he was visiting you."

I took a sip of my milk and honey. "I thought you wanted me to make friends?"

"Oh, really? I was just joking." Gary said laughing. "You pick interesting people to make friends with."

I shrugged.

"Well, I hate to be that guy, but I have to go." Gary said standing up and leaving, taking my mug with him. "I'll bring your mug back later, I promise!" He yelled back as he left.

I decide to go watch the news. In the middle of a commercial I hear another knock on the door and I go and open it. It's probably Laura, come to bother me. I open the door and it's actually him, the guy with green hair, whose name I don't know. I let him inside and close the door. I trust him a bit more now.

"I'll be ready in a minute." I tell him setting my milk on the counter. He looks at me a bit confused but says nothing. I go into my bedroom and change my clothes. When I come back I notice that my mug is empty. I ignore it. "Come on, let's go for a walk. I need the exercise." He looked at me a bit awkwardly, as if he was confused, but he followed me out nonetheless. When we hit the street we settled out to a brisk pace.

"It's really nice out today," He started. I decided to listen, since I had basically asked him to walk with me. "You picked a good day to take a walk. Do you do this often?" I could tell this was going to be a long walk...

I shook my head. "Not really, I just decided that I need to get out the house more often, and taking a walk seemed to be a good reason to..."

He simply nodded. There was silence between us for a while until he started talking again. "I used to take walks, a bit like this actually, but I haven't had the time lately, I've been busy with various tasks and such things, but it's also important to take time out of your busy schedule every now and then and just enjoy the gift of nature, and all it's wonders..." And he continued to ramble on for a good time, until we stopped for a break. We were now sitting on a bench, because I wanted to catch my breath.

While we were sitting I glanced around. We were in a park, as most benches reside in one, and around us were park-like things: Trees, grass, aforementioned benches, and a frozen yogurt stand.

At that moment a wonderful idea popped into my mind. Considering it was hot, or at least I was, we should get some frozen yogurt. "Do you want some frozen yogurt?" I offer, turning to him.

He was playing with his thumbs in an odd fashion, but nodded nonetheless. "Sure, what kind do you want?"

I was unsure of what he was asking. Sure he was asking what flavor I wanted, but was he offering to buy it? I had originally intended to buy my own. "Chocolate?" I wasn't really sure what flavors they would have, but most things chocolate tasted... nice.

He nodded before getting up and walking over to the stand. He returned a couple of minutes later with two cups of frozen yogurt: mine, and presumably his. He held one cup out to me and I took it thanking him. "Should we head back now?" He asked looking up at the sky.

It was getting to be a bit past noon, so it would heat up a bit.

"Sure," I got off the bench and we began walking back to my apartment.

I've always wondered how he knew the way to my apartment. Maybe he just remembers or something, or perhaps he just knew the building and my apartment number and just like searched it up or something. Regardless it's weird how he knows every turn, and every street, between the park and my apartment.

"So it's not just ice cream." He says suddenly, drawing me from my thoughts.

I look at him slightly confused before glancing down and my frozen yogurt or in particular, my hand. I'm holding my spoon, which is all well and fine, but I have my pinkie up, much like he said how I eat ice cream. I frown, somewhat involuntarily.

"Don't be offended," He starts, not knowing I didn't really mean to frown. "If it makes you feel any better, I...I think it's kind of cute."

For whatever reason, this does make me feel better. Why? I'm not entirely sure, but what does it matter? I don't bother to say anything to fend off is worries. I just stop frowning as much. We've reached our apartment. I unlock it, and he speaks again.

"I have to go..." He starts, scratching the back of his head. "I hope you're not offended." He says before leaving.

I think about what I've done, letting him believe that I was upset. Maybe I was to hard on him?

**Now at this point I'm just like, 'WTF, Black? You haven't asked him his name yet? I know you don't care and all, but really...' The sad part is that I have no one to blame but myself, seeing as I wrote it like that originally, but I didn't know that I would be doing this now...**

**Well anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Please review, it means a lot to me, even if it's just to tell me that you like the story or something, it means a lot to me. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, normally I don't like putting author's notes before hand, but in special circumstances I break tradition... Anyway, this time around Black goes to work like a responsible adult. (Although an adult wouldn't wait almost a month to ask someone who's been sleeping on your couch for the longest their name, just to be fair). Please R&R and above all enjoy!**

Maybe I was to hard on him.

I let him believe I was upset when I really wasn't. Now I haven't heard from him since then. He might have crushed hopes or something? Maybe he wanted to be my friend and now thinks I hate him?

I sat on the edge on my bed, my chin cradled in my hands, thinking. I have no idea what the thought of rejection does to a person, what happens to them when they feel like they lose someone so close to them... to be fair, we haven't known each other for that long. Well, I haven't known him for that long...

Today I had to go to work but I would be spending a really short amount of time there. I had already finished my assigned project but was just going in to basically hang out so I would still get paid. I don't actually understand it, but whatever, it's like two hours of basically just sitting around getting paid to do nothing; who can complain about that?

Regardless, it was almost time for me to leave now. I would be back by lunch, so I wouldn't miss that many of the shows that were so exceptionally boring to watch, like 'Steven's rock fetish' or whatever it was called.

I stood up, stretched and then prepared to leave for work, which basically boiled to me throwing on a coat. I had noticed that many of the things that my 'friend' said about me were actually true, like how I never brought anything to work with me.

I left out of my front door and proceeded to lock it behind me. Like always it was a short, uneventful walk to work. Nothing interesting every happened around here, which is sort of a good thing and a bad thing.

I stepped into work, and rode the elevator up to work. I was greeted by Susan as I stepped out, the only other person who came to work this early.

"Hey, Susan. How are you doing today?" I greeted her, walking in the direction of my cubicle.

She smiled at me. "I'm doing great! Where have you been for the last few days? Barry and I have been worrying about you."

"I was just at home, I guess. Can't really explain it that much differently." I sat down, before realizing that I had absolutely nothing to do.

"Well, that's good. The boss told us about what happen to your family. I'm very sorry, and I hope you start feeling better." Susan almost yelled from across the office.

I sat there at my desk feeling a bit stupid. I had come into work, knowing that I had nothing to do. Was the money really worth that? Being bored for almost two hours didn't really appeal to me. I got up and headed over to Susan's office, which was much better (and slightly more roomy) than my cubicle. Her office could fit three people easy, while my cubicle could fit two if one sat on the others lap.

I poked my head into her office. "Hey, you don't mind if I hang out with you? I kind of have nothing better to do." I asked, trying to appeal to her better nature. Susan and I did this often but there were those rare instances where she just flat-out said no.

"Sure!" She rolled up a chair next to her and patted its seat. I walked around her desk and sat down. Susan was a cool person like that, although she was technically my superior, she still let me basically hang around instead of doing work most of the time.

I looked at her computer screen, which looked like she was getting ready to send an email to a client.

"So there's this asshole," Susan starts, typing as she speaks. "Who feel that because he owns half of the shares for this company that he thinks he can just walk in here anytime he wants to."

I turned to Susan, as I was interested in the story.

"So he comes in, yesterday in fact, walking around just bothering people. Then when someone got on his case, he starts demanding to see a manager or something like this is his local McRonald's or something. So anyway, I go to speak with him. So he starts on about how he isn't getting any respect, or whatever. I let him go on for a bit and then I just stop him and tell him to get the fuck out."

I laughed at the mental image of Susan saying this to the man.

"Oh, that's funny, huh? That's why you should come to work more often; then you get to see the funny stuff go down." Susan laughed a bit herself.

"Who should come to work more often?" It was the familiar voice of Barry. He appeared in the doorway of Susan's office.

"Yo! What up, Barry?" Susan, started throwing up weird hand signs. Barry did the same and he greeted her back.

"Hey, Black? Where have you been?" Barry asked, placing some papers on Susan's desk. "Boss-Lady has been freaking out! Wondering if you died or something." Although Boss-Lady was my nickname for her, other people used it occasionally.

"I was at home, chillin'." I said trying to imitate the tone both of them had used before.

Susan just looked at me. "Please don't do that again, please?" She laughed a bit, so I could tell she was trying not to be mean.

"Well, that's cool. Nice to see that you're back." Barry placed his laptop on the desk and took the chair on the other side of the table. Much like we did before, we would just hang out in Susan's office and work there.

Susan had fully typed out her email and sent it. Her computer beeped as another email was received and she sighed.

"One of those weeks, huh?" Barry asked, biting into an egg and cheese muffin. My stomach growled, but I would be out of here in an hour; I could wait.

Susan nodded. "Blackberry? You wouldn't mind answering this one, considering you have nothing to do."

"Sure," Susan and I switched seats.

"OK, type everything I say."

"Type everything I say." I said, while typing just that.

"Don't be funny," I chuckled and deleted it. "Dear Mr. Raln, you are an exceptionally talented person and your credentials show as much, but you inquiry for a job as part of custodial workers turns up with the result of there being no empty positions, thank you for you time and consideration."

Barry coughed, and almost choked on his food. "So not everything you send out is pure hate?" Susan rolled her eyes and sent the email. As she did so, she received another email. "You don't mind if I answer this one, do you?"

"I do mind. You have a bad habit of not typing what I say. It's kind of annoying." Susan and I switched seats again, and she set about answering the email.

Barry mumbled something incomprehensible.

"You're just mad Blackberry is cuter than you," Susan teased, sticking out her tongue.

Barry said nothing, but continued to work.

"Really?" I asked. "I've been hearing that a lot lately..." I said mostly to myself.

Susan noticed what I said immediately. "Really?" She stared deeply into my face. "Did you meet someone?" Barry perked up as she said this.

"What? No, nothing like that. Just some guy I've been talking to." I tried to explain, but Susan was having none of it.

"Just some guy?" She asked. She sounded a bit skeptical, as if I was lying.

"I mean, yeah. We had dinner once, or something. It's not a big deal."

"You two had dinner, and it's not a big deal?" Susan raised an eyebrow.

I was getting a bit flustered at this point. "It was like hamburgers, stop twisting my words."

"Stop making it sound so suggestive." Susan replied, crossing her arms.

I sighed, looking at the time. It was about time for me to leave. "You're the one doing that, and I have to go. I'm only getting paid until ten." I said standing up and getting my coat.

"Sure. Did you get fucked in the ass by this 'guy'?" Susan said, slapping the aforementioned body part. I squeaked as she did so. "I'm sure Barry was saving that honor for himself."

Barry who had been laughing up until now stopped and glared at Susan.

I put my coat on and told the two goodbye. They said goodbye back, I left and headed home.

As I'm heading up the stairs to my apartment I run into Gary, who has an odd expression on his face. When Gary notices me his face breaks out into an even weirder smile.

"You have a visitor waiting for you." He says nonchalantly.

I wave it off as nothing. "Thanks for the heads up." I already know who it is, not that it could be that many people. Gary shrugs and continues on his way.

I make it to the landing that holds my apartment to see my good friend waiting at my front door holding what appears to be breakfast.

He smiles. "Good morning, Black. I brought you something." He says holding out the bag for me.

I smile as a greeting and let him inside. We both walk in and I close the door behind us. He takes a seat at the table, setting the bag on top of it. I sit on the opposite side of the table and he slides the bag over to me.

He begins talking, but I really don't pay attention to what he is saying. It mostly has to do with a book that I presume he is reading.

After a short while he leaves, so I stay and wait for him to come back. I go to the couch to watch TV, considering all the time I have to myself now-a-days, I might as well spend it doing something constructive. Although TV does not really fall into the category.

I plopped down on the couch, settling in the most comfortable position that I could. I turned on the TV and flipped it to a semi-interesting channel. What was on wasn't really all that important since I somewhat intended to sleep through it. It was a children s' show of all things. At the moment a blue turtle like creature was singing about the environment with his two compatriots, a reddish lizard, and a green radish plant. I closed my eyes so I could fall asleep easier but the singing of the show quickly overpowered my subconscious. I turned off the TV before falling asleep.

I awoke around six, drowsy and still half-asleep. I absentmindedly got off the couch, almost tripping over my coffee table in the process. Speaking of coffee, I think some would do me well now...

I walked into the kitchen, and rested my head on the counter. I was very tired and a bit bothered. My stomach growls and I realize that I am hungry. I shake my head, relieving a bit of the drowsiness. After a quick splash of water to the face, I finally have the energy to fully open my eyes. I stand straight for a moment, allowing my body to adjust itself to being awake, then I resume my earlier task.

I make myself some coffee and check my fridge for anything edible. I decide upon stir-fry. It seems easy enough, and I won't have to clean that many dishes.

I clear off the counter, and set out everything I plan to use. I lazily prepare everything before tossing it into the pan. I set the heat to a lowish temperature and go to sit at the island of my kitchen. I rest my head on the island and watch as the flame licks at the bottom of the pan.

I sit and watch the flame for the next couple of minutes until I hear a knock on the door. I go to open it, stretching along the way. I look through the peephole on the door, and I see him, wearing his white hat. I open the door and he greets me, waving. He has nothing with him, but I invite him inside anyway. I close the door before going to finish up in the kitchen. He takes off his hat before sitting down at the table. I make two plates and set one down in front of him before taking my own seat.

He says nothing at first, he just stares at the plate a bit wide-eyed as if he doesn't understand why I placed it in front of him. Then he thanks me. I gently smile at him.

I take my first bit of what I've concocted and it doesn't taste altogether dreadful. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was tasty but it wasn't tasteless either.

My guest seemed to be having no problems with the dish, seeming as how he was eating it without complaint. "So how have you been?" He gets out in between bites.

"I've mostly been napping," I reply, yawning. We both finish eating and he volunteers to put the plates in the sink. I yawn again as I pull out a newspaper. Although I normally don't read the newspaper because most of the headlines are just silly things about death or politics, or a combination of the two, I decide to give this one a bit more of my time. I spend most of it reading an article about air quality around the city.

I look up halfway through my article at my guest, who has been sitting quietly, for the last five minutes. I watch him for a bit as he glances around as he normally does when he's not talking. I realize that this is probably boring for him, so I decide to watch TV instead. I go to sit on the couch and he follows hesitantly. He stands a bit off to the side, watching me.

"You don't mind my being here, do you?" He asks after a while. I glance at him a bit quizzically.

"Oh," He starts, twiddling his thumbs all the while. "I just thought that I was disturbing you, normally I leave before now, but I'm still here. So I was wondering... if you minded my being here, and if you do I'm very willing to leave-

I shake my head and he stops talking. He stares a bit as if he confused, that is, until I pat the spot on the couch next to me. He doesn't hesitate to sit down. He tries not to talk very much, only asking question about the show during commercials. He probably assumes that I'm actually watching the TV. I do after a while, but only to properly answer his questions.

"Do you ever wonder what they do in their free-time? Surely it can't all their time can't be dedicated to their job."

I yawn and get into a more comfortable position, I can't lay out fully like I normally do, because he is also on the couch. I feel my eyelids slowly grow heavy before I drift to sleep.

**Susan is a very boss-lady-esque name, in my humble opinion. Though she's not Black's boss, just a superior. I hope to have a boss like her one day. Anyway, I've decided to take a less linear path with this. Originally I had decided to basically rewrite (in greater detail) the events of _In The Midst Of Depression_ (ITMOD), but I have decided to add some extra stuff. I'll point it out when I get to it, but until then I hope you enjoyed, and please if you have the time, leave a review, so I know what I need to work on. Thank You!**

**PS: McRonald's is an inside joke**


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